Frances Chamberlaine Sheridan

Born Frances Chamberlaine, she was an Irish writer who became known as Frances Sheridan after marrying Thomas Sheridan in 1747. She wrote during the mid-18th century and is remembered especially for the novel The Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph (1761) and the play The Discovery (1763).

Her work was admired for its feeling, moral seriousness, and close attention to the inner lives of her characters. That combination made her an important figure in the sentimental fiction of her time, and her writing continued to attract attention long after her death.

She was also the mother of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the celebrated playwright and politician. Even so, Frances Sheridan stands in her own right as a notable literary voice whose novels and plays helped define the emotional and social concerns of 18th-century literature.